April 11, 2019 – The IPF is providing four Canadian short-form scripted series producers/creators with complimentary full registration and travel grants to attend the 2019 Banff World Media Festival, and receive mentorship while at the Festival.

The participants selected are:

Charlie David
Avocado Toast
Ontario

Karen Knox
Slo Pitch
Ontario

Jessica L’Heureux
Abigaëlle et la séduction prénatale
Alberta

Brady Roberts
Sideshow
British Columbia

One additional creator/producer will receive complimentary registration to attend the Banff World Media Festival:

Daniel AM Rosenberg
Old Friends, New Buds
Ontario

Eligible applicants were Canadian English or French-language producer/creators of scripted digital dramatic content, with previous web drama series experience and a new scripted short digital series in development. Applications that included specific goals to accomplish while attending Banff were reviewed by a selection committee.

In 2019, the IPF celebrates a decade of funding dramatic short form web series. The IPF has invested $15M in the production of 131 web series in the past 10 years. It invests $1.5 – $2M annually in 10-15 projects. These series represent all demographics and genres, including comedy, sci-fi, horror, animation, thrillers – and can be accessed at www.ipf.ca/webseries.  It has also sponsored 443 professional development activities and events such as the Banff World Media Festival, with grants totalling $5.2 M.

The IPF is incorporated as a charitable foundation with an endowment valued at $35 M. It uses the interest generated by the endowment and return on its project investments for its annual operations and project funding.  From 1991 to 2010 the IPF invested $47M in television drama series.   In 2018, the IPF also undertook the administration of the Cogeco Television Production Program on behalf of Cogeco Connexion with approximately $2M annually for the production of television drama series.  The IPF Board of Directors is composed of representatives from the industry and makes all final funding decisions.